


across the gap (of a thousand years)

by mintwhiskey



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Hope never jumped into Malivore bc that was honestly the dumbest shit ever, bc I don't claim the finale, canon up until 1x15, did someone call for the angstiest slow-burn ever?, except with a little twist bc I'm that twisted myself, it's gonna be a LONG ass ride so hold on, no? well here we are anyways lmao, the rating might change at some point wink wink, this is basically Josie pulling an Elena Gilbert tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-01-25 22:44:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18584122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mintwhiskey/pseuds/mintwhiskey
Summary: "we love and we lose and it stays with us forever and a minute; but what if there was another way?"orWhen holding on becomes too much to endure, Josie chooses to let Penelope go.





	1. Take Her Away

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT NOTE:
> 
> Alright everybody, here we go. But before we start, there's a few things I would like you guys to know first:
> 
> 1\. Title is taken from Marina Tsvetaeva's poem "No One Was Left At A Loss".
> 
>  
> 
> 2\. Memory erasure is one of my most favorite tropes for a pairing so I decided to do one for our beautiful angsty titanic ship bc like I said before, clearly we haven't suffered enough. But the best part is, this isn't ONLY a memory erasure trope, it's more than one storyline (you're welcome). Also, I suck at summaries but I promise you the story is going to be great (if you've read my other works, you know what I mean).
> 
>  
> 
> 3\. As you can tell, this is going to be a multi-chapter fic. I don't know how many chapters there will be and there's a good chance this is gonna go on for a few months, at the least, so I guess we're going to have something to help us through the hiatus? :)
> 
>  
> 
> 4\. The lengths of each chapter will be different; some will be long af and some will be teeny tiny. Honestly it just depends on how much I can write without losing focus because we been knew I have the attention span of a 2 year old.
> 
>  
> 
> 5\. This AU is canon divergence after 1x15, which means Hope Mikaelson didn't yeet herself into Malivore like an idiot because Hope Mikaelson is anything but an idiot. She just cut her hand, bled a little over Malivore and shut that stupid puddle of mud off for good. Then she and Landon came back to the school, happy and alive and unharmed because it's what they deserve.
> 
>  
> 
> 6\. They voted to keep Alaric as headmaster, Hope found Raf and brought him back, Dorian came back and so did Emma. Basically everyone is happy and thriving and safe. Well, everyone expect one miss Josette Saltzman.
> 
> Anyways, happy reading, everybody :)

Time heals everything.

 

  
Pain, guilt, loss, sorrow.

 

Eventually, time washes it all away, like waves wiping away footprints from the surf- a little by the second.

 

Josie Saltzman has heard that phrase in her life more times than she can count.

 

  
And she thinks it's nothing but absolute, utter bullshit.

 

Now more than ever.

 

Time doesn't heal what hurts. Time doesn't mend what's broken. Time isn't a cure. It isn't a remedy.

 

  
Time is only a collection of seconds and minutes, just a consistent ticking of a clock, a riverflow that doesn't stop for anyone or anything.

 

  
Josie thinks it's stupid to put all your expectations on something that isn't even substantial, to look toward it for some sort of comfort, to wait on it to heal you, make you feel as if you aren't falling apart with every heartbeat. It's stupid because it won't.

 

  
Because that is what Josie Saltzman feels like, has been feeling like for the past 6 months and time has done nothing to ease that feeling, not even a little.

 

6 months.

 

26 weeks.

 

184 days.

 

4,386 hours.

 

  
All that time and nothing to help Josie with how her heart seems to be pulling apart at the seams with every breath she takes.

 

  
Because time doesn't help with the fact that Penelope Park is gone and Josie is never going to see her. Ever again.

 

She's gone and she's not coming back and Josie doesn't know how to ease the pain that comes with the very thought. She doesn't know, hasn't known in all the days and weeks Penelope has been gone- she thinks she will _never_ know, will never find a way to make it hurt even a fraction less than it does.

 

  
And Josie _has_ tried to find a way, to fix what's broken, to heal what hurts; tried and failed, over and over and over again.

 

  
Time didn't help.

 

  
Sleeping in Penelope's old bedroom didn't help.

 

  
Wearing the clothes she'd left behind didn't help.

 

 

Calling her never answering phone number a million times didn't help.

 

  
Talking to her hallucination through the prism didn't help.

 

  
Blaming Lizzie didn't help.

 

  
Raging at her parents didn't help.

 

  
Countless therapy sessions with Emma didn't help.

 

  
Shutting out all her friends didn't help.

 

  
Wrecking havoc in the confides of her bedroom, destroying everything she could destroy without a price, letting her anger and pain explode, unleashing her misery on everything around her, crying her eyes dry for hours on end each time- _none_ of it helped.

 

  
It didn't help because none of those things brought Penelope back, none of those things _could_ bring Penelope back. And Josie knows that that is the only thing in the world that could help her.

 

  
Yet still she tried. She really did.

 

  
But she knows that it's never going to stop hurting.

 

  
Not if she doesn't do what she's finally convinced herself of doing after months of pain upon pain.

 

 

Josie stands in Penelope's bedroom, fingers tracing the empty surface of the dresser, a place that used to be lined with picture frames carrying so many memories. Her vision blurs for a second and she blinks. Her hand falls to the top drawer and she pulls it out, revealing several folded garments that were part of Penelope's school uniform. A particular piece of clothing catches her eye and her breath catches in her throat. She reaches down, fingers clutching at the midnight blue sweater as memories flood her mind.

 

  
She remembers Penelope wearing this sweater the day Josie had _finally_ worked up enough courage and kissed her for the first time. She remembers her fingers knotting in the very fabric at Penelope's neckline, remembers the feel of it, the touch of Penelope's kiss, the curve of Penelope's smile against her mouth and the smell of her perfume that wouldn't let Josie catch her breath.

 

  
Tears escape her before she's even aware of their presence. Josie's hands fist themselves into the soft cloth as she presses it to her chest, to her face, letting her tears fall thick and fast. Penelope's perfume invades her senses again, faint and familiar, and it doesn't help the way she feels her chest is about to crack open with grief.

 

  
It _hurts_.

 

  
More than Josie can put into thoughts, into words. Hurts so much, it's hard to even comprehend the intensity of it. It pulses in her heartbeat, threatening to tear her whole being down the middle.

 

  
It hurts so much because it's not one emotion, it's _so many_ of them, too many of them; it's pain and it's anger; it's loss and it's regret and it's guilt. A vast, endless sea of it.

 

 

And the thing is, it's not the first time she's been without Penelope. She's been without her before; when they broke up, when Penelope left her out of the blue, in the middle of nowhere, with no explanations and nothing to hold on to. She's lost her before. Has lived without her before. Has grieved her loss before. It's not new, but it's _different_.  
It's different because this time Josie has no one to blame for her misery but herself. This time she has guilt, so much of it. So much that she can't breathe under the weight of it. She wasn't guilty before. She is now.

 

  
Penelope's face swims to the front of her memory. She thinks of her face and how it glowed every time she had asked Josie for a reason to stay. She remembers how that glow drained from her eyes every time Josie had given her a thousand reasons to go instead.

 

  
She's guilty this time; of not listening when Penelope was begging, of not looking, of not paying attention, of not trying to see beyond her own anger, of not believing, of not being able to realize what it all had actually meant, not even when it was all neon lights blaring in her face.

 

 

_That's what was in it._

 

 

She remembers how Penelope had loved her with everything she had; how she had put her heart on a silver platter and handed it to Josie with no questions, no demands, no rules, no arguments. And she remembers how she had stomped all over the heart that had loved her so freely, how she had tried to tear Penelope down again and again with no remorse.

 

 

_You know that we're never getting back together, right?_

 

 

She remembers a soft smile and a silent acceptance. She should've known. She should've deciphered what it had meant. But all she did was drive the knife in and twist it further and further with each interaction.

 

 

_I hate you._

 

 

She remembers bright, broken eyes- yet their gentleness never wavering, not even in the face of such blunt hatred.

 

 

_I know._

 

 

She remembers how she hurt the one person who had given her everything, had fought with her all in a fight that wasn't even her own.

 

 

_One day, you will understand why I did, everything I did._

 

  
She remembers every cruel thing she ever did to Penelope, every harsh thing she ever said, every display of her hatred for the raven haired girl. And she remembers Penelope never retaliating, never calling her out, never returning the acts of unkindness. Never. No matter what Josie did. Not even once.

 

 

One reason.

 

  
It's all Penelope had asked.

 

  
Just _one_. And Josie knows it wouldn't have mattered to Penelope even if it was the smallest of reasons. She just needed one, just something to show her that it was worth it, that everything she had done was worth it- _that it could have been worth it._

 

  
But Josie just stood there and watched her walk away. She ruined everything good she ever had with her own two hands. She chased away everything good she _could have_ had with her own stupidity and ignorance.

 

 

She let go when she should've held on the tightest.

 

  
Penelope gave her the world; gave her a purpose and strength and a ground to stand on, gave her a chance and a voice and wind to steady her wings. She taught her to stand up for herself, taught her that it's okay to be selfish sometimes, taught her to give but also to take as well. She gave her the push to fight for herself and to love herself and to go for what she wanted, _whatever_ she wanted. She gave her a love that never faltered, not even a little, no matter how hard Josie tried to push it through the ground.

 

  
She gave her _everything_ and Josie couldn't even give her _one_ reason to stay.

 

  
The weight on her heart increases by a tenfold, drowning out her senses, submerging her vision into darkness.

 

  
She remembers Penelope's face and how it had looked the last time Josie ever saw it; remembers pain in every inch of it, remembers the heartbreak glittering in those ocean eyes, remembers that solid, steadfast calm finally melting away from her features, remembers the tears breaking away from her lashes. It was the first time Josie had ever seen Penelope cry. In all the time she had known the other witch, it was the _first_ time Penelope had let her guard down enough to cry and it had been because of _Josie_. She never thought she would ever see Penelope cry, much less the fact that _she_ would be the reason for it. But she was; she was the reason Penelope had finally broken- the strongest, the single most unyielding person Josie had ever seen, and she broke her.

 

  
She remembers shaking fingers wiping away her tears, remembers that kiss that was a symbol for every broken thing they couldn't fix. She remembers the way Penelope's voice had cracked with all the pain she was trying to keep at bay.

 

  
_I love you, Jojo._

 

  
Josie's fingers curl impossibly tighter in the fabric clutched between them as she buries her face in the softness of it, her body trembling all over where she stands.

 

  
_I love you; with all of my obnoxious, selfish, evil heart._

 

  
And it just hurts so much, it chokes the oxygen from Josie's lungs as she chokes on the tears she tastes on her tongue. And she think this is exactly what she deserves.

 

  
_I love you too. I love you too. I love you too._

 

 

She begins to siphon without realizing it; the floorboard under the soles of her shoes glows red and when the pain rises like wave through her, something inside her chest breaks like a glass vile and the magic bursts out from her in an explosion.

 

  
By the time Lizzie steps over the blown out door and into the room, Hope just behind her, Josie is slumped to her knees in the middle of the wreckage, her hands pressed flat to the floor and tears dripping onto her lap.

 

  
"Jo," She hears Lizzie breathe, worry and horror mixing together in her voice, _"Josie._ "

 

  
She raises her head to meet her sister's eyes and watches as Lizzie's face floods with pain, watches as she crosses the room in quick strides and drops to her knees beside Josie. Lizzie puts her arms around her sister and pulls her into a tight embrace and Josie lets herself fall against Lizzie in a heap, fresh sobs breaking past her lips and her whole body shivering with tremors.

 

  
"Lizzie," Her own voice sounds strange to Josie's ears, broken and fragile, "Lizzie, I can't. I can't."

 

  
She doesn't know what she wants to say, doesn't know how to say it. So she just let's it spill.

 

  
"It's okay, Jo," Lizzie whispers against her hair, "It's going to be okay."

 

  
"It's not," She says, choking on the truth of it, "It's not."

 

  
"Don't say that," Lizzie tightens her hold around her, "You're going to be okay, Jo. I promise."

 

  
"No," Josie shakes her head, "No, I'm not. This is _never_ going to be okay and I- I can't do this anymore, Liz. I can't."

 

  
"Jo-"

 

  
"I can't go on like this, Lizzie," She pulls away slightly to look at her sister, though it's hard to make out anything through the tears, " _Look_ at me. I'm- I can't. It hurts so much, Liz. It hurts and I _can't_ take it. Not anymore."

 

  
Lizzie opens her mouth and then closes it, clearly at a loss of what to say. Hope steps closer and then crouches down in front of them, reaching out to place a gentle hand on Josie's knee,

 

  
"We're here, Jo," Her eyes are sad and her voice is low, "If there's anything we can do to help, tell us. Anything at all."

 

  
The answer dances on the tip of her tongue, has been for a while now. Josie doesn't know if it's the right thing to want but she knows that it's what she needs right now. For her own good. For her own sake, she has to do what she's about to ask.

 

  
She reaches out, fingers wrapping tightly around Hope's wrist, "Take it away, please."

 

  
Confusion sparks in Hope's eyes, "What?"

 

  
"Take it away, all of this," Josie croaks, more tears blurring her vision, " _Take her away._ "

 

  
"Jo, what are you talking about?"

 

  
"Penelope," Her name tastes incredibly bittersweet on Josie's lips, so much so she feels like falling apart all over again, "I want you to take her away. Erase every memory I have of her."

 

  
Lizzie's gasp of surprise is loud enough to vibrate in Josie's head. But right now, she's not paying attention, she's not focused enough to.

 

  
"If I were a vampire, I'd shut my emotions off just so that the mere _thought_ of her wouldn't break me in two- but I'm not so I can't," Josie tries to blink her vision clear, though to no avail, "But what I _can_ do is have her erased from my memory. It's the only way."

 

  
She knows she must sound crazy by the way Hope flinches away slightly, shock evident of her face, " _Josie_."

 

  
"I can't do this anymore, Hope," She repeats, her words mixing into one another because her tongue feels as heavy as lead, "I can't miss her anymore. It's destroying me. Can't you see it? I can't keep doing this. I can't."

 

  
Lizzie's arms around her loosen slightly and Hope shakes her head, "Josie, no."

 

  
" _Look at me, Hope_ ," Josie uses her palms to wipe at her cheeks, trying to gain some composure over herself but the tears just keep flowing, "Look at me. Do I look _okay_ to you? Do I look like I'll _ever_ be okay?"

 

  
Hope doesn't say anything, just watches her with pained eyes.

 

  
"Look around you," Josie gestures at the carnage of a room surrounding them; at the torn out floorboards and the broken door and the toppled bookshelves, "Does _any_ of this look okay to you?"

 

  
"You're hurting, Jo," Hope says quietly, her voice troubled, "It's okay to hurt. Everyone does."

 

  
" _No one_ hurts like _this_ ," Josie's words hitch in her throat, "I don't think anyone hurts like this. I- There's something _wrong_ with me. I can feel it. I'm spiraling and I have no control over it. It hurts so much and it's- it's eating at me alive. All this pain, all this anger- it's not normal. None of it is normal."

 

  
"Jo," Lizzie starts but Josie shakes her head,

 

  
"I burned half the forest down, Liz, you were there. You saw it. I-" She breaks off, tears clogging her windpipe, rendering her unable to speak for a moment, "The greenhouse, the kitchen, the cemetery, all of it. You saw what I did, everyone saw- I nearly destroyed our school, Lizzie. I hurt dad and MG and Kaleb. Because I can't control my own magic, because all these emotions and taking over me. You can't tell me- you can't tell me that was normal and that everyone deals with pain like that. Because- because it's not."

 

  
She's crying again by the end of her sentence, unable to hold back the hurt that pours through her entire being. She's shaking and shivering in Lizzie's arms, fingers wrapped in a death-grip around Hope's wrist and her heart tearing apart all over again inside her chest.

 

  
Hope's hand presses gently against her knee, a comforting touch, but Josie can't seek any comfort from it. She thinks she's actually immune to the feeling of peace and comfort at this point.

 

  
"When she broke up with me," Josie says, more to herself than to the other two girls, trying to ignore the stab of pain that goes through her just by mentioning Penelope aloud, "She took the blame. She played the villain, made herself a target for my hatred. She broke up with me for my own good and yet still let me hate her. She let me think none of it mattered to her, that she played me like a fiddle and left me when she was done with me. She allowed me that thought so that I would project all my pain and all my anger at her and not at myself. And she- she succeeded in it, you know? I spent a whole year hating her, spent every waking moment being so angry at _her_ that I didn't have time to focus on any other emotion. Our break up was as much my fault as it was hers, but she took all the blame just so I wouldn't beat myself up about it."

 

  
Tears fall hot and fast onto Penelope's sweater that's still bunched up in her lap; a reminder, like everything else, of all that Josie has lost.

 

  
"But now," She gasps a little because it's getting harder to talk, to breathe, but she has to push through, "But now she's gone and I have no one else to blame but myself. And rightfully so. As it should've been the first time too. But- there's so much guilt, so much regret. And I don't know how to live with all that. I don't know how to live like this, without her; knowing how I ruined everything good I ever had, how I hurt her, how I took her for granted again and again, how I kept taking and taking from her and never giving back. I don't- All she ever did was love me, everything she ever did was because she loved me and I couldn't- Penelope did everything for me. She loved me, she never missed a chance to show it and I was too blinded by my own foolishness to see that. Selfless love was all she ever gave me and I gave her nothing but selfish resentment in return."

 

  
Hope and Lizzie stay silent throughout the entire time, listening to every word, never interrupting.

 

  
Josie uses her sleeves to wipe at her own face again, rubbing at her skin with enough force to actually hurt.

 

  
"I didn't deserve her, I _never_ did," She says into the silence, hearing her own heartbreak etched into every word, "And now she's gone and I have to live the rest of my life knowing that I never got to tell her what she meant to me and that I never will get another chance. Because she's gone and she's never coming back and I have to live with this mountain of guilt and pain and anger and regret. But I can't. It's too much. I love her too much and I can't love her anymore."

 

  
There's a long stretch of silence in which all three of them just sit there and let the realizations and the truths sink in. Josie runs her fingers over Penelope's sweater, trying to memorize the feel of the cloth, to seek a ghost of Penelope's touch from the soft threads.

 

  
This is the last time.

 

  
"There is something very wrong with me," She says quietly, not daring to look her sister or her friend in the eye, "The way I lose composure, the way my siphoning is no longer under my own control, the way I can't contain how the magic flows through me; there's something wrong and I need to fix it before it kills me, or worse, causes a damage that's irreversible."

 

  
"Then we'll find a way to fix it, Jo," Lizzie says from beside her, "We'll find a way. Right, Hope?"

 

  
"Yeah," Hope nods, her face a mixture of too many thoughts to count, "We will."

 

  
"There's no way of fixing this, not with all these emotions that are choking the life out of me," Josie whispers, eyes trained on the garment in her hands, "I need to let her go. I can't hold on anymore. It's killing me from the inside out, like slow poison and I can't keep holding on. I'm not strong enough to do it."

 

  
"Josie," Hope says again, "You can't."

 

  
"You can't change my mind, Hope," Her voice isn't angry, it's full of unshakeable conviction, "There's nothing that you or anyone can say or do to change my mind, not now. I asked for your help because you offered it, not because I need it. I'm a witch, I know the spell and I can do it myself if you won't help me. I would've preferred if you had helped, because it's a complicated spell that could go severely wrong at any given point but if you don't want to help, I'll still do it anyway. Regardless of the consequences."

 

  
Lizzie drops her arms from around her and Josie turns her head to meet her sister's eyes. Lizzie looks shaken and disbelieving, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Josie looks away, instead focuses on Hope, who's looking at her with such terrible sadness in her expression that it almost breaks Josie's resolve right there.

 

  
But she can't.

 

  
She can't back away from this.

 

  
Not now. Not at the edge this cliff that she's about to tip off of any second now.

 

  
"What if she comes back?"

 

  
The question hits Josie like a sack full of bricks. It makes her head spin, all breath knocking out of her for a split second.

 

  
"What?"

 

  
"Penelope," Hope says with the same quiet, "What if she comes back after you've erased her away?"

 

  
"She won't," Josie blinks, trying to wrap her mind around the thought.

 

  
"What if?"

 

  
"She's never coming back, Hope," Josie tries to sound a bit more substantial but the words settle on her own heart like a rock, reminding her once again of the entire truth of them, "She has no reason to. I was the only reason for her ties to this place and I took that away from her. I drove her away too far. She's gone and she's never coming back. She won't."

 

  
"Just entertain the possibility for a second, Jo," Lizzie interjects, "What if she does?"

 

  
Josie tries to think of an answer.

 

  
What _would_ happen if Penelope, by some miracle, came back and Josie didn't remember her? What would they do? Where would that leave them?

 

  
Emotions begin to swirl inside her, fast and strong, and she closes her eyes and mind against them.

 

  
"Then it wouldn't matter," She forces the words out, tasting their bitterness, "Even if she comes back, I wouldn't remember her and I don't see why I would need to remember anything anyway. It's selfish maybe, but whether she comes back or not, forgetting her isn't going to hurt me either way. So that's what I'm choosing for myself. I'm being selfish. I'm doing what I want, I'm looking out for myself. It's what Penelope always wanted me to do. And I know it's too late, but I'm choosing to listen now."

 

  
Hope and Lizzie exchange a look, both their eyes troubled and sad. It's clear that they don't understand, that they don't agree. But Josie doesn't need them to. She knows this is what she has to do. It may not be a sensible decision, it may not be wise or right for so many reasons, but it is a decision she's chosen to make.

 

  
It may have taken almost 17 years of life and losing something much too precious to lose, but Josie Saltzman has finally learned to be selfish. 

 

 

 


	2. Stupid, Dumb Witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> somewhere in a little diner far, far away..........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be a brief, fleeting scene idk how it got so lengthy ksjdjs but it was so fun to write and I hope you guys have just as much fun reading it :)))))
> 
>  
> 
> [p.s: catch that little peek into penelope's backstory which we will be diving more into bc our girl is much more than just a plot device i said what i said]

 

 

Penelope presses the napkin a little harder against her mouth and winces when the cut stings.

 

  
Bringing it away, she peers down at the stain of blood on the white paper napkin and rolls her eyes before pressing it back to her busted lip.

 

  
Stupid, dumb witches.

 

  
She turns her head to stare out the picture window, watching the narrow, overly crowded street in the heart of Pompeii city. People bustle around, pacing down the sidewalks, going about their daily business, shoppers swimming in and out of the shops. Penelope can hear all the shout and noise through the walls and the glass of the diner she's currently taking refuge in, tucked far away from the small mob of witches that she's freshly pissed off, who are no doubt hounding the streets in search for her on the other side of the city.

 

  
She grins to herself at the thought but then immediately flinches when the cut on her lip sears with pain.

 

  
Penelope watches the people out on the street, her mind wandering and drifting from one name to another; then from names to faces, from faces to people, from people to stories and then eventually, from stories to memories. The fingers on her left hand hold the napkin to her mouth while her right hand mindlessly reaches up to toy with the silver chain around her neck. Distractedly, she runs her fingertips over the smooth, cold, tiny metal links until she reaches the pendant dangling from the middle of the chain.

 

  
At the touch of the rough stone, Penelope blinks and looks down at the pendant now resting upon her fingertips. Her brow furrows at the dark splatter of blood over the red garnet and the back of the pendant.

 

  
"Oh, for fuck's sake," She grumbles in disbelief, moving the napkin away from her mouth and glaring at the bloodied pendant, "the dumbass really got blood on my _necklace_ \- damn it, if you wanna bleed to death, do it somewhere else."

 

  
Annoyed, she reaches for another napkin at the table and dips one corner of it into her glass of water before bringing it to wipe the blood off the jewelry. She could always spell it clean but there's something oddly inviting about the manual labor after all the magic mayhem she's just dealt with. It takes her two minutes of obsessed scrubbing before she's removed every microscopic speck of blood from the pendant; no one can blame her for being so fanatically overprotective of her necklace, after all this particular piece of jewelry means a hell of a world to Penelope. Even though looking at it, it's nothing too much; just an ordinary fingernail sized red garnet stone encrusted in a small disc of sterling silver about the size of a quarter. Nothing screams special or extraordinary about it to the world, but to Penelope, it's as precious as her own heartbeat.

 

  
This necklace was a present from Josie, given to Penelope on her birthday the year they had started dating. It was also the first thing Josie had ever given Penelope, had saved up money for months to be able to afford the expensive little garnet that was Penelope's birthstone. She remembers that moment like it was just a breath prior; Josie Saltzman, a little hesitant and anxious, standing behind Penelope in the reflection of the mirror, laying the delicate chain around her neck with a gentle kiss pressed to the shell of her ear and an admission that had set Penelope's heart struggling to break out from her chest,

 

  
_I'm in love with you._

 

  
With a sudden pang in her heart, Penelope turns the pendant over in her fingers, bringing up the other side of the small disc. There's a fingerprint imprinted on the metal; Josie's fingerprint, engraved into the solid silver to last eternity. When Josie gave Penelope the necklace, this hadn't been on it but then one day, the idea had randomly come to Penelope and she'd gotten Josie's thumbprint, taken it to a jeweler and had it engraved on the back of the pendant.

 

  
She runs her finger over the engraving, a melancholic smile tugging at her lips at the memory of Josie's laughter when she found out what Penelope had done with her thumbprint.

 

  
"I miss you, Jojo," She utters under her breath, pressing her own thumb to the imprint, knowing that it's as close as she'd ever get to Josie's touch again, "god, I miss you _so_ much."

 

  
Penelope brings the pendant up to her mouth and gently kisses it. The cold metal feels like a balm against the cut on her mouth and she closes her eyes at the soothe of it. She holds it there for a heartbeat before letting it fall back inside her collar, hiding it from sight.

 

  
When they broke up, Penelope returned everything that had ever been given and received between her and Josie but she could never bring herself to return this necklace. So she magicked up a fake, exactly like the original, except for the fact that the duplicate didn't have Josie's fingerprint on it and returned it to the taller girl. It was a risk but then it didn't matter because it turned out that Josie never really bothered to check any of those items again because she didn't ever bring up the topic of the fake necklace to Penelope.

 

  
It hurt, but Penelope got to keep the necklace so she took consolation in that. Since the moment she got it, Penelope has never taken the pendant off and so she doesn't really know what she'd do if she was ever told to give it up. She's already given up everything, she's let go of all she's held dear over the last 3 years and at this point, she can not bear to even think about losing her necklace too. For Penelope, just the thought of it is enough to break her heart. After all, it's the only thing she has left of Josie.

 

  
With the thought of Josie, with the feeling of missing her comes a lot of unwelcomed pain. Not that Penelope hasn't been living with this anguish pulsing in every breath she's taken ever since she walked away from Josie 18 months ago, but it still hurts. Just as day one, just as new and raw.

 

  
Penelope is shaken out of her stupor when a tray carrying a cup of steaming coffee and a plate of two bagels is put down in front of her,

 

  
"Here's your comfort food," Caroline Forbes announces, appearing in Penelope's line of vision, "Now quit sulking."

 

  
Penelope raises an eyebrow, "You think my sulking can be conquered by _two bagels_?"

 

  
Caroline gives her a look and puts down a paper wrapped chocolate eclair next to the bagels, "I _know_ you."

 

  
Penelope bites back a smile and watches as Caroline places her own tray on the table and slides into the booth opposite her. Then she picks up an ice pack from her tray and slides it across the table to Penelope,

 

  
"That's for your spectacular, blooming black eye."

 

  
Oh, right. Her eye.

 

  
She almost forgot about that.

 

  
Penelope inhales deeply and reaches for the ice pack, "How bad is it?"

 

  
Caroline shrugs, picking up her pretzel and taking a bite, "You could pass off as half a raccoon."

 

  
"You could've said panda, you know," Penelope gingerly touches the ice pack to her left eye, flinching a little when it stings.

 

  
Caroline watches her, her face a little worried, "Does it hurt?"

 

  
Penelope nods, squinting against the cold of ice.

 

  
" _Good_ ," Caroline says cheerily, "That'll teach you not to pick useless fights with people thrice your age and ten times your number."

 

  
"Okay, for the _record_ ," Penelope removes the ice pack from her face to look at the older woman, "If you hadn't vamped me out of there, I would've given those assholes a piece of my mind. To hell with their age and number, I was about to make a witch-smoothie out of all of them and do it _without_ a blender."

 

  
"Yeah, no doubt," Caroline rolls her eyes, "Listen, even being as powerful as you are, you couldn't have possibly taken on an entire coven of witches by _yourself_."

 

  
"I was doing just _fine_ until that little snake turned on us!" Penelope says indignantly, "I swear to god I should've turned her into a rat or something on the spot."

 

  
"Either way," Caroline points her pretzel at the young witch, "You should _not_ have started that fight, Penelope. We talked about this, I specifically told you not to do it again and yet you still did it."

 

  
"They were _lying_ to us," Penelope drops the ice pack on the table, her anger returning, "That two-timing bitch Irene told us they had a lead when they didn't know shit and were only trying to make off with our money. That whole bullshit about that shaman in the Himalayas, did they think we're idiots? I mean, did they really think they'd make a joke out of us and there would be no retaliation?"

 

  
"Penelope," Caroline sighs, shoulders dropping, "I get it. You had the right to be angry, okay? I mean, I was too, but- How many times has it been that you've lost your temper already? You _have_ to understand that you can't fly off the handle like that and attack people every time we're mislead or misguided. It's not gonna help you get any answers and will only land you in trouble."

 

  
"I know," Penelope mutters darkly, putting her face in her hands, mindful of her busted mouth and injured eye, "It's just- every time this happens to us, every time we're mislead or lied to, every time we chase a lead down only to come up with nothing- it drives me up the wall. It makes me angry because it makes me feel helpless and I don't handle feeling helpless very well. I hate feeling trapped and impotent, unable to do anything useful when I need to do it the most. Every time we come out of these situations empty handed, every minute that gets wasted in us getting screwed like this, it reminds me of what's at stake and I just _hate it so much_."

 

  
Caroline watches her silently, her blue eyes full of understanding. Because even though Penelope Park and Caroline Forbes are worlds apart, starting from their ages to their species to their mindsets and their hearts, this right here is something for which they feel exactly the same.

 

  
Penelope shakes her head, looking out of the window, "I fly off the handle, lose my shit and have a go at all those lying, cheating, deceiving assholes because they waste our time, Ms. C; time that is precious to us, time that we can't afford to lose and they absolutely waste it for either the kick of it or for the money and it makes me so damn angry."

 

  
"I know," Caroline mirrors her words from earlier, her voice quiet, "I know."

 

  
They fall silent after that, focusing on finishing their food in the quiet as Penelope alternatively tends the ice to her sore eye between every other morsel.

 

  
Penelope knows that Caroline is telling the truth when she says she knows what and how Penelope feels. Caroline knows because she feels it too, just the same, if not even more. Over the course of the last dozen months, Penelope has seen Caroline lose it too; has seen her snap in anger and frustration, has seen her unleash her fury and give in to her natural instincts that come with her being a vampire. She's seen what Caroline Forbes looks like when she's wronged and threatened and scared and angry- she's seen what lies beneath the witty snark and bright eyes and the motherly kindness.

 

  
18 months ago, after Penelope left Josie standing by the fireplace in the Salvatore lounge, she took the first flight to Belgium, accompanied by Bibi and only one goal and purpose in her head; to figure out a way to break the Gemini curse. When Penelope had told her mother she was planning on attending an all witches school in Belgium, her mother had allowed it because of their agreement, but on the condition that Penelope would take her aunt with her. And since Bibi was well aware of her entire scheme, Penelope had no qualms about her coming along, After attending the Belgian witch school for two months, as per their plan- Penelope quietly dropped out, leaving her aunt in Belgium and caught the next flight that took her straight to Vienna, where she knew Caroline Forbes had been currently residing during her hunt for the cure.

 

  
She tracked the blonde vampire down with a locator spell and told her everything, offering her help by any means in the search of a way to breaking the curse.

 

  
Caroline knew who Penelope was, having met the young witch once during the time her daughter and Penelope were dating. Penelope knew Caroline probably didn't think much of her other than the fact that she was her daughter's ex, which automatically meant Caroline was surely skeptical of her. Penelope also knew that to get Caroline to agree to accept her help was to reintroduce herself and do it more thoroughly this time around. So she told her everything; from her first day at the Salvatore boarding school to her last; about how she and Josie had met, had gotten together, had fallen in love and how they had broken up. She told Caroline the reason why the breakup happened, why it had to happen; she told her why she had done everything she had, knowing that the older woman would understand.

 

  
Penelope told Caroline that she could help, that she had the right and proper motivation for finding that cure, as well as a huge reservoir of magic with which she could help Caroline in ways she couldn't even comprehend. Despite all that, Caroline turned her down; not because she blamed Penelope for whatever happened between her and Josie, but because she thought it was too dangerous. She told her to go back home and that there wasn't much Penelope could do for her. She told Penelope that at 17, she shouldn't be wasting her time and risking her safety for a wild goose chase. Penelope didn't argue and returned to her hotel for the time being, but made sure to keep check on the older woman so when two days later, Caroline went to talk to her next lead, Penelope followed her.

 

  
The lead turned out to be a bunch of hipster witches hoping to make some cash by feeding Caroline some story about a coven in Hong Kong. At some point during the conversation, Caroline caught on to their bullshit and things went out of control, resulting a fight in which Caroline couldn't stand a chance- being a vampire gave her a disadvantage while fighting off witches. To save Caroline's life, Penelope intervened and did enough damage to allow Caroline a fighting chance. Together, they laid waste to the entire witch party and by the time they were done with it, Caroline had caved in and accepted Penelope's help, having seen how much the young witch was able to bring to the table and how driven she was to get the job done.

 

  
Penelope put the ice pack over her eye again, her mind drifting back to the moment later on in that same day when she revealed to Caroline that the twins now knew about the merge and it was Penelope who had told them. Caroline all but bit her head off at the news; she raged and raged at Penelope and was ready to send her packing until Penelope explained to her that keeping that secret from the twins was doing them more damage than it was doing them good. She admitted that it wasn't her place to tell but she also explained to Caroline all the things and reasons that had lead her to do it. She told her about the mess that had been made because the merge was kept a secret and watched as Caroline's shoulders had slumped in defeat, understanding taking hold of her.

 

  
Penelope's chain of thought is shattered by Caroline tapping on her elbow gently,

 

  
"Hey," She leans forward to peer closely at Penelope, "Seriously though, how much does it hurt? You haven't broken anything, right?"

 

  
"Nope, nothing broken," Penelope focuses her good eye on her, the other one still hidden behind the ice pack, "But I can't believe that asshole threw me all the way across the yard."

 

  
Caroline's lips twitch ever so slightly, "Well, you _were_ magically wringing the life out of her brother, you know."

 

  
"As I  _should have_ been,"

 

  
The vampire raises her eyebrows at her and Penelope slouches back in her seat,

 

  
" _Fine_ , maybe that was a little extreme," She grumbles, switching the ice to her busted lip, "But I'm _not_ a fan of being played like a cheap kazoo and I'm _definitely_ not a fan of being tossed around."

 

  
"Oh?" Caroline sips at her coffee cup, "Has that happened before?"

 

  
A series of war flashbacks go through Penelope's mind and she sighs,

 

  
"Yep, courtesy of Hope Mikaelson," She mutters, "Long story. _Please_ don't ask."

 

  
"Hope Mikaelson?" Caroline blinks, clearly surprised, "You got thrown like a rag doll by _Hope Mikaelson?_ "

 

  
"I was distracted!" Penelope says defensively, "Also, friendly advice; do not, under any circumstances, ever take Hope Mikaelson lightly. She's incredibly powerful- but in _that_ particular instant, I was distracted and she caught me off guard."

 

  
" _You_ were distracted?" Caroline puts her cup on the table, now positively puzzled, "You're _never_ distracted under threat, Penelope. All these months and I have never seen it happen. Not even once."

 

  
"Yeah, well," Penelope drops her gaze to her hands, "I was then."

 

  
" _Wow_ ," Caroline lets out a small whistle, "Must have been something huge to distract _you_."

 

  
Penelope cheeks begin to warm at the memory of smiling brown eyes and soft lips pressing against her own.

 

  
" _Wait_ ," Caroline watches her, trying to piece something together, "Hold on-  _Josie_?"

 

  
The heat in Penelope's cheeks turns up several notches, "Can we not?"

 

  
"What were you two doing?" Caroline ignores.

 

  
"Um," Penelope puts the ice on her eye, partially to avoid eye contact with Caroline, "You're literally the last person on this planet that I would ever wanna have this conversation with so please do not ask me anything."

 

  
Caroline's face slackens and her eyes widen comically as she let's out a scandalized gasp, "Penelope Park, you better not have been defiling my daughter's innocence in any way whatsoever!"

 

  
"I wasn't!" Penelope splutters, embarrassment setting her skin on fire, "It wasn't.. I mean, we weren't- _Oh my god,_ this is- I can't. _Why_ would you say something like that?"

 

  
"I have every right to say it, young miss," Caroline continues to peer at her with accusation in her eyes, "And you still haven't answered my question."

 

  
Penelope drops her face in her hands, "I don't wanna talk about this with you."

 

  
"Well, that's too bad, sweetie because you're gonna have to."

 

  
"It was just a kiss, okay," Penelope mumbles into her hands, "Nothing more. In fact, it was barely even _that-_  it was more like a small peck but _that's it_ \- and can we please stop talking about this now because I'm _not_ indulging you anymore."

 

 

She looks up to find Caroline still watching her, but this time her mouth is twitching a little,

 

  
"Okay, but can I-"

 

  
" _No_."

 

  
" _Fine_."

 

  
They stare at each other for a long moment before Caroline gives in and starts laughing, which makes Penelope break out into a grudging laughter of her own, embarrassment and hilarity mixing together between them.

 

  
Once they stop laughing, they settle back into a comfortable quiet, both of them getting lost in their own thoughts. Penelope focuses on watching the people on the street again, her thoughts forming and breaking, melting from one to another in quick successions.

 

  
"We missed their 17th birthday," She says quietly, mostly to herself, though she doesn't know why that thought came to her now. She looks back at Caroline to find her already watching her. There's sadness in her face and Penelope knows the same emotion is reflected in her own.

 

  
"You know, the whole day that day I couldn't stop thinking about what I wouldn't give to be there with Josie," Penelope drops her gaze to her hands on the table, "And I couldn't stop thinking about how you must have been feeling, what you must have felt on the birthdays that you've had to miss. And that got me thinking about how you must feel every single day that you spend so far away from them, missing all these big moments, all the special instances in their lives. I used to be there and I used to watch them miss you whenever there was a special moment and I never understood how you could stay away. I used to wonder how you felt about not being there with them and sometimes I used to think that you probably didn't feel anything about it all. But I get it now. I get exactly what and how much you must feel. Nobody understands the sacrifices you've made, that you're _still_ making. But I hope one day, the twins know."

 

  
Caroline blinks rapidly, turning her head away but not before Penelope catches the shine of tears in her eyes.

 

  
Silence stretches between them again. Neither of them speaks, they just sit there- Caroline staring out of the window and Penelope staring at her hands.

 

  
Someone from the waitstaff comes and clears their table before leaving them to themselves again. Penelope draws in a long breath, fingers tracing invisible patterns on the table surface,

 

  
"Do you think it's worth it?"

 

  
Caroline meets her eyes, "What do you mean?"

 

  
"Is it all worth staying away from your daughters?" She says slowly, asking herself as much as asking Caroline, "What if one day, it's their 22nd birthday and there's no cure, would it be worth it? Staying away from them all these years only to have nothing in the end? What would you do then? I mean, there's a good chance there's no way out of this mess and yet you're still not with them in what could possibly be their last years. Would any of this be worth throwing all these precious years to waste?"

 

  
Caroline doesn't answer. She doesn't answer for the longest time and Penelope thinks she's never going to get an answer- she's not sure if she really wants one in the first place. But then Caroline is raising her head and meeting her eyes again, her face full of unmatched sadness,

 

  
"I don't know, Penelope," She whispers, shaking her head an inch to each side, "Some days, it feels as if this is worth everything in the world. And some days, I just want to leave it all and run back home to my girls because there's just not much time. But in between, I know that it's my duty as a mother to spend every waking moment looking for a way out, whether or not it yields any fruit. So I don't really know, Penelope. I don't know."

 

  
Penelope nods, wordlessly.

 

  
A few minutes slip by before she leans forward, reaching for one of Caroline's hands on the table. She puts her own hand over Caroline's and gives it a gentle but firm squeeze,

 

  
"We'll find a way, Ms. C," She offers a small, encouraging smile, "All magic works on a principal and the rule is; there's no spell without a loophole. There has to be one for this too and we'll find it. Okay?"

 

  
Caroline gazes at her for a long moment before she allows herself a smile, her other hand coming up to cover Penelope's and she presses down on it softly, "Okay."

 

  
The promise is unspoken but it still rings in the air loud and clear; they will go to the ends of the earth, leave no stone unturned and they _will_ find that loophole, no matter what it takes.

 

  
"Speaking of mothers and daughters," Caroline sniffles a little and sits back, "I can't believe _your_ mother still hasn't caught up to the fact that you're not in Belgium, where you said you were going to be. I mean, it's been over a year, how does she not-"

 

  
"She doesn't have the time," Penelope says dismissively, "Being the leader of our coven and-"

 

  
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on," Caroline makes a time-out sign with her hands, "Your mom is the _leader_ of your coven?"

 

  
"Ms. C, I'm ten times more powerful than any average witch my age," Penelope gives her a impish grin, "Did you think I got all that power by drinking a super serum or something?"

 

  
Caroline laughs, "Okay, valid point."

 

  
"I come from a line of very old, very powerful witches," Penelope toys with the ice pack in her hands, "My coven is one of the four oldest and strongest covens in the existence of magic. Every single witch in our coven is single-handedly a match for a dozen normal witches, sometimes even more than that. So you can imagine how powerful the leader of an entire coven like that must be- and I happen to get all that power in heritage."

 

  
Caroline mouths a silent _wow_ , her face a picture of pure amazement.

 

  
"But yeah," Penelope continues, trying to deflect the attention off her, "Along with being her coven's _praesul_ , which is our title for the leader, my mother is also an internationally renowned scholar who's always attending seminars somewhere in the world, giving lectures to thousands of people. Basically, she has a whole sea of responsibilities and being an attentive mother just always gets lost in there somewhere."

 

  
She pauses for a moment, switching the ice pack from her mouth to her eye, "And as far as she's concerned, Bibi is with me which means there's nothing for her to worry about. If Bibi calls her every weekend, with her weekly reports on me, telling her how well I'm doing at school and how our day-to-day lives are going in Belgium- and if I call her every few days, letting her know how I am, then that's enough for her. She doesn't have the time to make a personal trip to Belgium to check up on me- our word is apparently enough. And besides, I went home for the holidays so that's basically all the confirmation she might have needed. She's not that bothered and honestly, I'm grateful for that."

 

  
Caroline's gaze on her is kind, empathetic, "Has she always been this way?"

 

  
"I guess so," Penelope shrugs one shoulder, "I mean, she's great as far as providing your children with the best of everything goes. She's loving and has always had the world at our disposal. She's just not that good with paying too much personal attention to her kids. I mean, I have 6 older brothers and then there's me; she's just never had the time to spare each of us individually for the smallest things."

 

  
"And your dad?"

 

  
Penelope runs a finger along the edge of the table, "He passed away when I was 5. I think if he were still here, he would've cared. Which means, I wouldn't have gotten to get away with lying and pulling off this whole act."

 

  
They're silent for a minute before Caroline shifts a little in her seat, "Your Bibi, tell me about her again?"

 

  
A small tugs at the corners of Penelope's mouth at the mention of her aunt and her heart aches just a little with how much she misses her.

 

  
"Bibi is my aunt," Penelope smiles again, looking up at Caroline, "My dad's younger sister. Bibi is Indonesian for aunt so there's no rocket science about me calling her that. In my coven, there's a tradition that a maid or caretaker is assigned for every child born in the _praesul's_ family. Said caretaker stays with the child at all times, she raises the child, teaches him, nourishes him, protects him- basically, anything a mother is supposed to do because the actual mother is too busy being the queen of the beehive. Bibi was made my caretaker when I was born and since my mother couldn't make any time for me whatsoever, I always needed Bibi more than most. Which is why even to this day, she's still my guardian. She's the person I trust the most and apparently, so does my mother. Which is the reason why she conditioned for me to take Bibi with me to Belgium."

 

  
"And she knows everything, right?" Caroline asks, "Where you really are and what you're doing?"

 

  
"Yeah, of course," Penelope leans back in her seat, crossing her arms over her stomach, "I told her everything even before I set the whole thing in motion. We made an entire plan, how I'd attend the school there for a while before leaving to find you and how she'd stay in our rented apartment there to keep an eye on everything and be there to control the situation, should anything ever spiral out of hand. She's always known what Josie means to me, she knows how important it is for me to do this and she's always been on board. She's got my back and as long as I know it's true, everything is going to work. I know it."

 

  
Caroline smiles at that and Penelope returns the expression, serenity filling her veins at the reminder of her aunt and her unwavering love and support that's always been available to Penelope at every second and turn.

 

  
Across the table, Caroline exhales heavily before taking another sip from her cup, "I just can't understand how your mom was okay with letting you move to another continent just because you said you wanted to attend some school there. Like, I wouldn't let the twins go, no matter how much fuss they made."

 

  
Penelope laughs under her breath, "My mother wouldn't have allowed me either, if the circumstances were different. But uh, luckily she and I happen to have an arrangement, of sorts. So she's technically bound to."

 

  
Caroline's eyebrows rocket up, "What kind of arrangement?"

 

  
"Let's just say," Penelope scratches her temple, "Well, my mother and I are in agreement to let me live my life the way I want to, in any way I want to live it until I'm 24. After that, I live it the way she wants me to."

 

  
The older woman narrows her eyes at her, "That sounds... _dodgy_ as hell."

 

  
Penelope laughs again and shakes her head, "Yeah."

 

  
Caroline looks like she wants to comment on this further but Penelope is spared the inquisition when Bonnie Bennett slides into the booth next to Caroline,

 

  
"I can't _believe_ you guys didn't wake me and went to see those witches by yourselves."

 

  
Penelope grimaces at the fresh reminder of the absolute disaster from earlier, "Well, at least you got to spend that hour and a half sleeping so I guess it was a good thing you didn't come along."

 

  
"Why?" Bonnie frowns, putting her bag and keys on the table before squinting at Penelope, "And what the hell happened to your face?"

 

  
"It was a false lead," Caroline leans back in her seat as Penelope sulkily puts the ice pack back on her face, "They actually had no idea about a cure, or about the curse to begin with, and were making up some nonsense about shamans in the Himalayas. It was a waste of time and energy."

 

  
Bonnie nods, "So they lied and Penelope here popped off on them. Seems on the regular."

 

  
"She _literally_ popped off, Bonnie," Caroline says disapprovingly, "She popped god knows how many vessels half of their brains, but I assume it was too many- judging by the amount of nosebleeds. Also, she set _two_ of them on fire-"

 

 

"I was missing your daughter," Penelope mutters under her breath.

 

 

Caroline ignores her, " _And_ she was .5 seconds away from magically rupturing Irene's brother's lungs before she threw her off with a spell, resulting," Caroline gestures at Penelope's face, "In _this_."

 

  
" _Wow_." Bonnie blinks.

 

  
"Don't _encourage_ her!" Caroline whisper-yells at her best friend.

 

  
"I'm not!" Bonnie says defensively, "What happened then?"

 

  
"She grabbed me and sprinted," Penelope says around the ice pack, "But those wackos were still following us so I teleported us across the city. I bet they're still prowling the streets back there for us."

 

  
"That explains it," Bonnie nods, "I was wondering why Caroline had texted me an address on the _other_ side of the city when you two had only gone down to the docks. You okay though, kiddo?"

 

  
"Just a busted lip and a bruised ego," Penelope grins a little, "But otherwise peachy."

 

  
Bonnie winks at her and Caroline shakes her head.

 

  
When Caroline and Penelope started their quest through Europe, it was just the two of them with occasional help from some of Caroline's old friends every now and then. Nobody ever stayed for too long and some times it was just them dropping in for a day or two, providing whatever information they had or helping track down a lead and the likes. But two weeks ago, Bonnie Bennett arrived at their hotel in Prague and announced that she was going to stay with them and be part of this search until they found the cure. Having Bonnie around turned out to be an absolute blessing; it meant triple the amount of magic, a truckload of new spells and having someone with much more expertise in the magic department, which automatically made every task a hundred times easier and quicker.

 

  
Penelope is stirred from her thoughts when Bonnie speaks up again,

 

  
"Did you really do all that to them?" Her eyes are trained on Penelope, incredulous.

 

  
Penelope shifts a little under the icy glare that Caroline turns on her, "Um, yeah."

 

  
Bonnie lets out a quiet whistle, "Honestly, how the hell do you even _know_ all these spells and their execution? Because I'm pretty sure they didn't teach offensive at Salvatore while you were there."

 

  
"They didn't," Penelope confirms, picking up the ice pack again and pressing it lightly to her eye, "I learned my magic growing up, from my coven, long before I attended Salvatore. I mean, the spells they teach to fifth graders there, I learned them at my mother's knee."

 

  
Both of the older women stare at her with identical expressions of bafflement. Bonnie recovers first, shaking her head and flashing Penelope a smile,

 

  
"Having seen you do magic, I don't think we should be really surprised about that," She says lightly.

 

  
Penelope offers her a small smile, fingers playing with the handle of her coffee cup.

 

  
"But tell me about the teleporting thing, though," Bonnie says, her voice tinged with childish excitement, "I've seen you do it a dozen times and I still don't get it. I mean, I have _never_ seen a witch teleport before meeting you and it's freaking _amazing_."

 

  
Penelope laughs at that, "It's a coven specialty."

 

  
Bonnie frowns, "What do you mean?"

 

  
"I mean," Penelope shrugs, "You know how every coven has a spell that's their specialty, right? Like the Gemini coven with their cloaking spells? Teleportation is a Calatori coven specialty; it was gift bestowed solely on that bloodline and only a Calatori witch can use it. You can cast the spell or whatever but it won't work unless you're a Calatori- that's why you've never seen anyone else ever do it before."

 

  
"Okay, now that's cool," Bonnie grins, her eyes shinning with glee.

 

  
Penelope winks at her, "I know."

 

  
Silence falls around their booth again and it's comfortable.

 

  
"What I'm wondering is," Caroline voices, her tone thoughtful, "Why attend Salvatore if you didn't need to be taught the use and control of you powers?"

 

  
Penelope inhales deeply, switching the ice to her mouth, "Because I needed consistency in my life."

 

  
Even though her tone and words are neutral, her face must be a flash warning of how she doesn't want to talk about this particular topic anymore because Bonnie and Caroline share a look, a silent agreement passing between them.

 

  
"So the Pompeii witches were a bust," Bonnie says after a beat, shifting the whole topic of conversation and Penelope is grateful, "What's the game-plan now?"

 

  
They all ponder over the question for several lengthy minutes, each lost in their own head.

 

  
"I think maybe it's time we focus on another continent," Penelope taps her fingers on the table, "I've had just about enough of Europe and it's less than cooperative supernatural community. And I might have an idea about what we should do next."

 

  
Bonnie pulls an expression of agreement but Caroline stays silent, watching Penelope with worried eyes,

 

  
"Penelope," She says in careful, measured tone, "I think you should go back home. To Mystic Falls."

 

  
Penelope's eyes snap up to her, taken aback, "What?"

 

  
"I think it's for the best if you head back home now," She says gently, "It's been 16 months. You've been on this wild goose chase with me for a year and four months and I honestly think it's more than enough. You've done enough."

 

  
Penelope stares at her in disbelief, "Is it because of what happened today? Because I lose my temper?"

 

  
"No," Caroline says quickly, "No, Penelope, of course not."

 

  
When Penelope continues to give her a betrayed look she sighs, her posture faltering.

 

  
"It's just," Caroline exhales deeply, "You're not safe, Penelope. With everything that happened today and has been happening over the last couple months, I can't help but feel like you're not safe on this search for the cure. Things are steadily getting more and more dangerous, we're coming across worse people each time who are even less inclined to help than the ones before them and I can't help but think- this might not be safe for you."

 

  
"Ms. C, I'm _fine_ ," Penelope shakes her head, "it's perfectly safe. I can look after myself. I'm safe-"

 

  
"You almost _died_ last week," Caroline cuts across her, "You almost died and my blood was the only thing that saved you."

 

  
They stare at each other from across the table between them, the mention of Penelope's short trip to the land of dead and back from the previous week settling heavily in the air. Penelope doesn't remember all the explicit details, having been half dead during most of the fight that had erupted between the three of them and a bunch of vampires, but she _does_ remember a brawl that turned real ugly, real fast. Penelope can't quite recall how she ended up with her throat nearly ripped out, all she remembers is the thick smell of blood and the taste of her magic on her tongue and then a lot of darkness.

 

  
"You could've died that day," Caroline says quietly, her face a map of worry lines, "I can't have that happen again. I _won't_."

 

  
Penelope opens her mouth but the blonde woman shakes her head, "You're not safe on this trip, not anymore. You could've died last week, you could've gotten seriously hurt today and I'm not willing to wait around and find out what could happen to you tomorrow or next week or next month, okay? How would I be able to handle the guilt if I let something happen to you, Penelope? And what would I tell your family? What would I say to _Josie_?"

 

  
Penelope rubs a palm against her forehead, "I can't leave, Ms. C. You can't ask me to leave, not when you know how much it means to me to stay right now."

 

  
"Let me tell you something," Caroline starts, her voice calm and gentle, "There's always been two parts of this fight against the curse. One part is to look for a cure, a way out of this mess and the other part is to help the twins prepare, just in case there isn't one. When Alaric and I realized that, we decided his was the fist part and mine was the latter. For months, you took the first part too before you decided you needed to search for the cure. But the truth is, Penelope, your fight isn't here. Your fight is wherever Josie is. It's always been. You were always meant to make her strong, to build her up. You aren't supposed to be here, you're supposed to be with Josie."

 

  
"I've tried that. For months. And it didn't do anything," Penelope sighs in a defeated manner, "Getting Josie to be her own her person, trying to make her stronger, helping her become more independent- it's _useless_. I've tried doing each and every one of these things and none of it worked. It'll never work."

 

  
"You don't know that," Caroline says quietly while Bonnie silently watches the two of them interact, her expression somber, "It _can_ work. It might work. And it seems like that the only person in this world that can do that for Josie, is you. I've seen your dedication to her, your love, your strength that's rock-solid for Josie and I just know that it's _you_ who's going to be the reason she just might stand a chance for her life. Josie _needs_ you, Penelope; she doesn't know that but you do. You know full well that she needs you, that she _always_ has. She still does- even if she doesn't know it."

 

  
Caroline's words settle heavy as a mountain on Penelope's heart. Some part of her agrees; some part of her knows Caroline is right and that everything she's just said is right too. But the thought of leaving and giving up the search for something, _anything_ that could save Josie's life, it seems impossible to even indulge.

 

  
But then there's the thought of seeing Josie again; of looking at the face Penelope holds the most dear in her heart, of being close to her, of the possibility of getting to hold her, of hearing her voice again and of being able to feel her presence, her touch, her warmth after so many months and suddenly Penelope wants nothing more in the whole world.

 

  
Then again, is she ready for it?

 

  
Is she ready to be there again and watch Josie waste herself away as Penelope struggles to hold her together and build her up and fights her for herself?

 

 

Is she ready to do everything she said she wouldn't do? To be there and witness what she told herself she wasn't strong enough to watch?

 

  
Is she ready to go through all of that pain of seeing Josie put herself second again and again and again, knowing how much she's worth and knowing that she doesn't know it, will never know it because she'd never try?

 

  
Is she ready to walk back into everything she walked away from 18 months ago?

 

  
Then there's also the thought of everything Josie's said and done from the moment they broke up.

 

  
Is Penelope ready- no, is she _willing_ , to go back and put up with all that Josie made her go through all those months? All that pain and anguish of seeing, hearing, knowing all of Josie's hatred for her? Of loving her with empty hands?

 

  
Is she willing to suffer even more heartbreak?

 

 

Is she willing to be the selfless yet again, but still play the selfish?

 

 

Is she willing to be, yet again, painted the villain of a happy ending she's been trying to save for years?

 

  
It was unbearable the first time around, what's to say it won't be even more insufferable this time?

 

  
But maybe the difference now would be the fact that this time, Josie knows the truth. She knows why Penelope did everything she did and there's hope that she doesn't hate her anymore. Maybe this time, she won't have to build Josie up by breaking herself in pieces.

 

  
"You asked me a question earlier," Caroline's voice brings her out of her stupor, "Now I'm asking you the same question; do _you_ think it'll be worth it in the end? Do you think it'll be worth it when you can't be with her anymore, knowing that you could have been?"

 

  
Penelope's heart turns heavy as a rock because she knows the answer to that, because that answer is also the answer to all the other questions she's just asked herself.

 

  
"Okay," Her voice is small and tired, "Okay, I'll go."

 

  
Caroline smiles softly, a little sad and a little defeated. Bonnie smiles at her too, but it's encouraging and kind.

 

  
"Teach her to be enough for herself, Penelope," Caroline reaches across the table and puts a hand on top of the young witch's, "You _can_. It'll take time, we both know that- it'll take time but you can do it. You're the only one who can."

 

  
"I'll do everything I can, whatever I can," Penelope tells her, trying to put as much solidity in her words as possible, "I won't let her die. Not without standing a chance at least."

 

  
They look at each other for a long, quiet moment, trying to read the other one's thoughts.

 

  
"I won't let Lizzie die either," Penelope finds herself saying and she can't help the jolt of surprise that goes through her; she's just said something that she never thought she'd _ever_ say and _definitely_ something she would _never_ utter out loud _ever_ again, "I don't know how, but I'll find a way. _We'll_ find a way, Ms. C. I promise."

 

  
Caroline's grip on her hand tightens and her eyes crinkle at the corners, gratitude and appreciation sparkling in them. She doesn't say anything but Penelope thinks she doesn't need her to, anyways.

 

  
The truth is, Penelope has no idea how she's going to do anything she's just said she would. For the first time in her life, she's at a point where she has no plans, no schemes and no way of figuring out what she's going to do. She doesn't know how she'll be able to help the twins without the cure within their grasp, or if there even is a way of helping them but there's one thing she knows with full certainty and it's the fact that she's _not_ going to give up. She'll do whatever it is there to be done and she won't stop until she knows Josie is going to be okay.

 

  
Penelope looks up to find Caroline still watching her and she shifts in her seat a little, "And um, in the meantime, do me a favor.. please?"

 

  
"Sure," Caroline says easily, "What is it?"

 

  
"Just don't," Penelope grimaces at the mere thought, "Just don't _ever_ tell Lizzie I said that."

 

  
Bonnie and Caroline burst into laughter, both perfectly aware of the antagonism between Penelope and Lizzie, and Penelope indulges them with a timid grin of her own.

 

  
Once she's stopped laughing, Caroline shakes her head, "Don't you worry."

 

  
"Uh huh," Bonnie flashes her a quick grin, "Your secret's safe with us."

 

  
"Thanks, ladies," Penelope inclines her head at the two of them, fighting off her smile, "And one more thing."

 

 

Caroline tilts her head, "Yeah?"

 

 

"Promise me that you'll keep me in the loop," Penelope looks between the two women, her tone serious, "I want to know where you guys go, what you do, anything you find, any progress you make. We've done this together for so long, I wanna _stay_ a part of it in any way possible."

 

 

"Of course, Penelope," Caroline says kindly, "You didn't even have to ask this. We're a team and it'll stay that way, no matter where you are."

 

 

Penelope smiles, "Okay."

 

  
A waiter stops by their table and puts down three fresh cups of coffee and a plate of sandwiches before scurrying away.

 

  
"These are mine," Bonnie pulls the sandwiches and one of the cups towards her before sliding the other two in Penelope and Caroline's directions, "And these are yours."

 

  
"You ordered these?" Caroline asks as Penelope rips open a packet of sugar, "When?"

 

  
"When I came in," Bonnie says through a mouthful, "I don't know what took them so long."

 

  
Caroline shrugs and reaches across the table for some sugar.

 

  
A few minutes pass by as Bonnie scarfs down her sandwiches while Penelope and Caroline enjoy their coffee, idling in silence.

 

  
"So," Bonnie says once there's only a single sandwich left on her plate, "What was this idea you mentioned earlier?"

 

 

Both of the older women turn their eyes to her, expressions expectant.

 

  
"I've been thinking about this for a few days now," Penelope wraps her fingers around her coffee cup, feeling it burn the skin of her palms, "But after today's disaster, I think it's time we focus more on this idea than on what we're currently doing."

 

  
Bonnie leans forward, her eyes gleaming with curiosity, "What is it?"

 

  
Penelope drags in a long breath, "I think all this time, we've been looking in the wrong direction."

 

  
Caroline arches an eyebrow, "Meaning?"

 

  
"Meaning that we've been running around searching for a way out of this merge, for a cure or a loophole," Penelope tilts her head to one side, mind racing faster with each minute, "But _maybe_ , we should be looking for something else."

 

  
"Like what?" Bonnie frowns.

 

  
"I don't know if I'm right on this," Penelope sits up a little, her forehead creasing in thought, "But I think that instead of looking for ways to break this curse, we should be looking for the source of it all."

 

Caroline and Bonnie stare at her with matching perplexed expressions.

 

  
Penelope sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should try and find out how this curse came into to existence in the first place. I mean, we literally know next to nothing about it- except for the fact that it's actually curse, not a tradition as everyone previously thought, and that it's hundreds of years old and that no set of Gemini twins has ever survived it. Other than that, we don't know anything about it and I think that's the biggest problem _and_ the reason why nobody has been able to find a solution for it."

 

  
Bonnie parts her mouth in astonishment, "Since no one knows anything about it, no one has been able to figure it out."

 

  
"That's it," Penelope throws her a smile, "To understand a spell, or curse, or magic in general, it's always best to know the nature of it. Magic always, _always_ works better when you know where it's coming from. When you know the source or the nature of a spell, it's so much more easy to work around it because then you know where it came from or what it took to create it or why it came into existence and most importantly, how to do or undo it."

 

  
"It makes sense," Bonnie says, her expression awed, "Because if we know how a spell or a curse was created, if we know the elements and the basics of it- we don't need to find a solution for it, we can just-"

 

  
"Undo it ourselves." Penelope finishes for her, her smile growing by the second.

 

  
"Penelope Park," Bonnie grins at her, "You are a goddamn genius."

 

  
"Is it really possible?" Caroline asks to no one in particular, doubt leaking into her voice, "Can it be done?"

 

  
"I don't know," Penelope tells her with a shake of her head, "Honestly, I have no idea. But everyone has tried everything else, _has_ been trying all this time- what's the harm in trying out _this_ way? I'm not saying we should abandon the search for the cure completely, I'm not- but I think we should be looking for the source as well. This has been nagging at me for a while and I just can't shake the feeling that this is important; we _need_ to know where that curse came from or who created it or what kind of magic it belongs to. We have to figure it out, it's essential."

 

  
"Penelope, why didn't you bring it up before?" Bonnie crosses her arms on the table, leaning against them, "If you've been thinking about it, why not mention it earlier?"

 

  
"Because I was trying to work out the details, connect the dots," Penelope runs a finger around the rim of her cup, "I didn't want to pop the suggestion up without having any real idea about it and sound stupid. I figured it out last week but by then we had this new trail and I wanted to see if this would work first, but as we can see from today's events that it didn't- so here we are."

 

  
Bonnie nods, moving to pick up her last sandwich while Caroline holds up a finger,

 

  
"What I'm thinking is why nobody _else_ ever thought of trying to find the source of the curse? I mean, all these centuries and _no one_ had this thought?"

 

  
"No clue," Penelope shrugs, brows furrowed, "Maybe someone did, maybe they didn't. Maybe they tried to find the source but failed. Maybe nobody ever got around to figuring it out. I don't know, Ms. C- it could be anything. But what I _do_ know is that we have the time and the means and the resources to do it and that we _have_ to find out the history of the Gemini curse."

 

  
"It could work, Care," Bonnie turns to her best friend, her face morphed into a kind, encouraging expression, "There's no harm in trying. We've got nothing to lose if we do, but everything if we don't. I mean, where we've spent years searching for a way out of this mess, we can spend some time searching for how we got into it in the first place. It could work; Penelope's right- it really could."

 

  
Caroline looks from Bonnie to Penelope and then back to Bonnie again before she sighs, a small smile tugging at her mouth,

 

  
"You two are the magic experts," She says in a light tone, "So how do we do it?"

 

  
"We split the tasks," Bonnie says, "Since Penelope is going back, she and Alaric can search for the source, while you and I can alter between chasing leads to the cure and looking for the source. I mean, when we don't have any leads to trail we can spend that time riffling through the history of magical curses."

 

  
" _Fun_ times," Penelope smiles and Caroline glares at her but the twitch of her mouth gives her away.

 

  
"I know where you can start looking," Penelope takes a sip of her coffee, eyes on the women sat across from her, "I've had this place in mind since the whole idea about the source started forming- because when I think about ancient magic, this place is the only place I can think of."

 

  
Bonnie tilts her head, "And that is?"

 

  
"Cairo," Penelope breathes out, "Magic does _not_ get more powerful or more ancient than Cairo. It's the home of some of the most ancient dark magic to have _ever_ been practiced. And I'm telling you, if there's one thing we know for sure about the nature of this curse, it's that it's dark. It ends in death, one way or another, which means it stems from dark magic and Cairo is the best place to search for anything related to that subject."

 

 

"I agree with that," Bonnie nods while Caroline just looks thoughtful.

 

 

Penelope clears her throat, "I, uh- I know some people there, at least a dozen or two witches that can help you. It would've been much easier if I was going with you, but I can still tell you were to find the right people and a message to get them to help out."

 

 

"Oh, wow," Caroline raises her eyebrows, "Okay."

 

 

"You know witches in Cairo?" Bonnie stares at Penelope, "How the _hell_ do you know witches in freaking _Cairo_?"

 

  
"I told you," Penelope slumps back in her seat, fingers drumming on the edge of the table, "The Calatori coven is one of the most ancient covens of all times; we're uncountable in numbers and have resources and contacts and allies, all around the damn globe- so much so that I wouldn't be surprise if the _devil_ himself turns out to be Saturday club tennis buddies with my mother."

 

  
Caroline chokes a little and Bonnie shakes her head in amusement.

 

  
"But anyways," Penelope says, eager to change the subject, "Even with all it's endless supply of magic and all things related to it, I'm not saying that you'll find a _definite_ answer in Cairo, but I can guarantee that you'll gain invaluable information that'll help in more ways than one."

 

  
"Well, in that case," Bonnie claps her hands once, "Guess we should head back to the hotel. We have a lot of packing up to do."

 

  
"While I also have to call my mother," Penelope grimaces, the taste in her mouth turning bitter and she's sure it's not the coffee, "And tell her to enroll me back at Salvatore because I'm an inconsistent, impatient and unsatisfied little brat who's wasted a shit ton of her money for absolutely no reason and now wants to go back because Europe apparently isn't quite up to her taste."

 

  
Caroline gives her a reproachful look, "That's not what it's about, Penelope."

 

  
The raven haired witch sighs, moving to stand up, "I know. But that's what I have to tell her because I can't very well tell her the truth. So might as well let her think the closest thing to believable."

 

  
Bonnie stops in the middle of picking up her keys, "Why _can't_ you tell her the truth?"

 

  
"Because she wouldn't care," Penelope turns to grab her coat from over the back of the booth, her words tinged with bitterness, "Because she'd think it's a waste of money and time and effort and she wouldn't want me to keep at it. And because of that, she doesn't need to know."

 

  
Both of the older women gaze at her with empathetic expression and Penelope shakes her head, shrugging on her coat.

 

 

  
"Let's just get out here," She offers them a smile, "I have more stuff to pack than both of you combined and I need to call my poor Bibi and tell her it's time to drop the act and she can go back home."

 

  
━━━━━━━ ☆ ━━━━━━━

 

  
After 3 cancelled flights, one delayed flight, almost 10 hours on a plane next to a woman that just wouldn't shut her mouth and a baby that wouldn't stop crying his fucking lungs out, a broken down car ride in the middle of Mystic Falls, dragging her luggage at least half a mile before she could pull off a teleportation spell away from the public eye- with only the thought of seeing Josie today to keep her going, to help her pull through all that mess, Penelope finally finds herself facing the enormous metal gates that open to the grounds of the Salvatore boarding school.

 

  
The gates are wide open, a clear indication that it's enrollment week and potential students and their parents are coming in and out. Term starts next week and Penelope thinks she couldn't have been forced to come back at a more convenient time.

 

Penelope can see activity around the grounds; kids running around, adults engaged in conversations, teachers milling about ready to help with any information any parent might require. In short, Salvatore seems to be thriving for the new term but Penelope can't bring herself to care about any of that.

 

  
She knows for a fact that beyond these gates and several yards into these grounds, at the mouth of the main building, there is Josie Saltzman- waiting outside, likely with a bunch of pamphlets in her hands, and a smile on her face that could light up the world. She knows because it's what Josie does every year during enrollment week and especially on orientation day, or whenever she knows a new arrival is due. It's how they met for the very first time. Josie greeted her outside the main building 4 years ago, when Penelope had arrived at the school. She was all soft smiles and hesitant introductions and Penelope had never felt so taken with someone so quickly. Penelope could never forget that day, could never forget that moment- after all, she did fall in love at the very first glance. Even if she didn't realize it until much later on.

 

  
She shakes her head, trying to rid her mind of the memories and to focus on the task at hand, in present. She thinks of Josie, just a little further away, and her heart begins to race. It's been so long since she last saw her and she never really realized how badly she wanted to see Josie again until she's just a few minutes away from it actually happening.

 

  
Penelope takes in a deep breath, in hopes of calming her heart down and holds her right hand out toward her luggage.

 

  
" _Volito_ ," She whispers under her breath and turns her hand over, palm up and lifts her hand up an inch.

 

  
Her luggage floats up from the ground, suspended in the air a foot above the ground. Taking in another deep breath, Penelope strides through the open gates and towards the main building of the school, her bags and suitcases following behind her like a bunch of floating puppies.

 

  
Several heads turn to look at her but Penelope doesn't pay any mind; it's nothing new and she's used to the attention whether it's wanted or unwanted. Her eyes are fixated on the tall brunette that is indeed waiting at the front door of the building, a stack of papers cradled in her arms as she smiles at people who approach her or pass her by.

 

  
Her heart pounding in her chest, Penelope reaches Josie just as the other girl turns around to say something to a young boy skipping past her and into the building. Penelope waits, her breath hitched in her throat and her heart hammering against her ribs; anxiety and anticipation courses through her veins in surges, making her dizzy and lightheaded.

 

  
There's a million and one ways Josie could react to seeing Penelope again; she could fly off the handle, she could start yelling, she could use magic and hex the shit of Penelope, she could get angry, she could be happy, she could tell Penelope she's glad to see her again or she could tell Penelope she never wants to see her face again. There's all these ways and the thought of each of them suddenly makes Penelope want to run away at the speed of light but her legs refuse to move. She stays rooted to her spot behind Josie, out of strength to even say a single word.

 

  
Josie laughs under her breath, shaking her head at the boy who's long gone and turns around to face Penelope. Their eyes meet and Penelope feels like she can breathe again. Suddenly, none of those million and one ways Josie could react matter anymore. All that matters to Penelope in this moment is Josie; her slightly startled expression when she finds Penelope behind her, her beautiful doe eyes that widen a fraction and shine under the sunlight, her pretty pink lips that part an inch as if her breath has been knocked out of her.

 

  
She stares at Penelope without blinking, her face a picture of a hundred expressions. Her eyes flit all over Penelope's face, sliding over each feature in slow, deliberate instances. She looks thrown off, starstruck and speechless.

 

  
They stand there, facing each other for an eternity or for a moment, Penelope can't really tell. Someone yells far away in the background and the spell breaks; Josie blinks and shifts an inch as if she's been slapped awake from a dream. Her eyes meet Penelope's again and she breaks into a dazzling smile.

 

  
Penelope's sharp intake of breath is silent and she hears the thud of her luggage falling to the ground behind her but she can't be bothered about that right now. In fact, she can't be bothered about _anything_ right now; an asteroid could literally hit their planet and wipe out all life and Penelope wouldn't even care. She keeps her eyes on Josie and doesn't blink, doesn't move, afraid that anything she might do would shatter this dream. It's not until she's actually looking at Josie, existing in her orbit, close enough to feel her warmth, feel the pressure of her eyes on her skin- it's not until now that she realizes how much she's missed her; how much she's wanted to be here again. It's not until now that she realizes she wasn't really living all these months but merely breathing; it's not until now, standing before Josie, soaking in her smile that she feels alive again.

 

  
Josie looks beautiful, even more so than before. Her hair is a little longer, pinned back from her face and falling in waves over her shoulders. She looks happy, healthy, radiating with life. The sparkle in her eyes leaves Penelope breathless for the millionth time in the span of a minute and she thinks she's never seen something as lovely as the curve of this girl's smile.

 

  
"Jojo," The name spills so quietly from Penelope's lips, she almost doesn't even hear it herself.

 

  
Josie's brow furrows a little and she looks so fucking adorable that Penelope just wants to put her arms around her and never let go.

 

  
"Um," Josie blinks and the frown disappears, replaced instead by another smile, "Hi."

 

  
"Hey," Penelope says breathlessly, her heart fluttering in her chest like a trapped butterfly, "You look.. you're beautiful."

 

  
Josie blinks again, her smile melting into a confused expression as she regards Penelope with slightly narrowed eyes.

 

  
Penelope mentally scolds herself for her own stupidity. Who the hell even shows up in their ex's face out of the blue, after ghosting them for almost two years and tells them they look beautiful?

 

  
She opens her mouth to apologize and offer a better explanation but Josie beats her to it.

 

  
"I, um- I'm sorry," She tries for another smile, polite and apologetic- her eyes scrunching at the sides, "But uh, do we know each other?"

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> your feedback is highly appreciated :)))))


End file.
